Gordievskiy’s escape was an embarrassment for the KGB, espe-
cially when he began appearing on British television to discuss So-
viet intelligence operations in London. Gordievskiy was later re-
ceived by President Ronald Reagan at the White House. He lectured
at the Central Intelligence Agency, with Ames in the audience. The
Soviet government refused to allow Gordievskiy’s wife or children to
join him in London. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
new authorities permitted his family to emigrate. Gordievskiy settled
in London, where he has written widely about the Soviet intelligence
services. His books are considered the most authoritative accounts of
KGB foreign operations.GORSKIY, ANATOLI VENIAMINOVICH (1907–?). After a decade
of work in internal security, Gorskiy joined foreign intelligence and
was sent to London as deputy NKVDrezidentin 1936 under the name
“Gromov.” With the purge of foreign intelligence, Gorskiy took com-
mand of the London rezidentura, which Moscow had briefly closed,
and ran British agents within the establishment. He was reassigned to
Moscow in 1944. With the recall of Vasily Zarubinfrom Washington
on suspicion of treachery later that year, Gorskiy was dispatched to
Washington, where he served as rezidentfor two years. Intercepted
Soviet intelligence messages suggest that Gorskiy ran Lauchlin Cur-
rie, a White House aid to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Gorskiy had unique access to the American political leadership for
an Allied diplomat or intelligence officer. On 24 October 1945,
Gorskiy met for breakfast with former U.S. Vice President Henry
Wallace. Wallace sought to explain the new Truman presidency to
Gorskiy, noting that the Democratic Party was now divided between
“Roosevelt Democrats,” favoring entente with Moscow, and the new
hawkish advisors of President Harry Truman, whom Wallace charac-
terized as “petty politicos.” The information was sent to Joseph
Stalin.
Gorskiy was not impressive physically. An agent described him as
“a short fattish man in his mid-30s with blond hair pushed straight
back and glasses that failed to mask a pair of shrewd cold eyes.”
Gorskiy was, however, an outstanding agent handler. He ran impor-
tant agents such as Kim Philby, as well as men and women within
the British nuclear weapons program. The Soviet intelligence effort100 •GORSKIY, ANATOLI VENIAMINOVICH (1907–?)06-313 A-G.qxd 7/27/06 7:55 AM Page 100